


The Glue

by annaxmims



Series: Tumblr Prompts [60]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Presumed Dead, death scares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:47:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24366049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annaxmims/pseuds/annaxmims
Summary: Tumblr Prompts:Post lawsuit, everyone has shunned Buck. To take care of himself Buck decides to go away from the weekend. While he is away, Athena goes to a homicide scene and is horrified when the victim is a dead ringer for Buck, right down to a mark over his eye. When she tries to contact Buck she gets no answer. When everyone finds out, they search for Buck, Eddie is beside himself and they all think Buck's dead. Then Buck shows up on Monday, oblivious and the confused when Eddie doesn't let go.+Could you please write a fic where post lawsuit with everyone mad at Buck, they come across this burnt out jeep with a dead guy in it and they find Buck's ID in the wreckage and everyone thinks Buck is dead. When they get back to the station they look to the upper floor and are stunned because there's Buck playing with Chris, holding him up in the air, beautifully alive and laughing. Eddie breaks the lands speed record getting upstairs and takes both his boys into his arms. Make up happens!
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Tumblr Prompts [60]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626286
Comments: 3
Kudos: 452





	The Glue

“Are you gonna be okay?” Maddie asked for the millionth time that day.

“I’ll be fine Maddie,” he assured. “It’s just a weekend trip to the mountains. Just hiking and running trails to take my mind off of all this,” he swung his hands wide to prove his point.

“I know. Things are going to get better,” she assured. “They have to.”

She pulled him into a firm hug and kissed his cheek.

“I’ll see you Saturday,” he promised.

“See you Saturday,” she echoed.

*****

“Hey Eddie?”

“What’s up cap?”

“Have you seen Buck? He was off yesterday and he hasn’t shown up yet.”

“No idea cap,” Eddie said shortly.

“Okay. He’s your best friend, I just thought-”

“Well whatever you thought, don't. Buck and I are not close as of lately.”

Bobby nodded deciding it was better not to push. He called Buck’s cell phone for the fifth time with no answer. He thought about calling Maddie but decided against it, she was at work and he didn’t want to interrupt. Buck would show up eventually, and there would be hell to pay for being late.

*****

Athena steeled herself for what was to come. DOA calls were the hardest. The sirens approaching told her the 118 was close by, probably responding to the same call.

“What have we got?” she asked the officer on the scene.

“Car wreck. A pretty bad one. One car went over the side but it’s up in blazes so we haven’t been able to get to it. We were waiting on the fire department, which speak of the devil, here they are.”

“The other passengers?”

“The driver in the Jeep was alone. The family in the SUV is fine other than scrapes and bruises.”

“All right.”

Athena stood back as the 118 got to work.

“This would be going much faster if Buck had bothered to show up to work,” Eddie muttered bitterly.

“I’m sure he’s got a good reason Eddie,” Hen tried to reason.

“Yeah whatever,” Eddie shook her off.

He and Bobby moved as close to the burning car as they could with the hose. As the flames died down, Eddie felt the dread rising in his throat.

“Bobby does that grey Jeep look familiar to you?”

“Eddie there’s a million grey Jeeps in Los Angeles. We can’t assume the worst.”

Eddie nodded, moving in once the flames were out. There wasn’t much left in the car, but he started digging around in the console and glove box to try and find an idea of who the victim might be.

When he found a wallet in the glove box he almost threw up. It was mostly charred, still smoking in his gloved hand. All that was intelligible on the driver’s liscence was the name ‘Evan’ and a blackened picture of a young blonde man.

“Bobby,” he choked out. “Bobby oh my god.”

He stumbled back from the wreckage, hands trembling.

“Eddie what is it?’

“It’s Buck. Bobby it’s Buck.”

Chimney and Hen came running down the hill. At the sound of Bobby’s cry, Athena was hot on their tail.

“No,” Chim whispered when he saw the contents of the wallet scattered on the ground

Eddie dropped to his knees, losing the contents of his stomach on the grass.

“Eddie breathe. You gotta breathe,” Hen was crying, but doing her best to hold it together.

Eddid leaned heavily on her, clutching at her arms.

“Hen he’s- he’s gone. I- I pushed him off. I’m never gonna be able to look Christopher in the eye again.”

“Eddie this is not your fault, it was a freak accident. It- I-” Hen couldn’t finish her sentence.

Athena called in backup for them. Everyone knew the 118 would be out of commision for a while after losing one of their own.

In the midst of the chaos, no one had thought to call Maddie.

*****

Buck stopped by Eddie’s on his way home. He was hoping he was off shift today so that they could talk. He desperately wanted to work things out with him. He missed his best friend.

Eddie’s truck was missing but Carla’s car was parked in the driveway. He locked his Jeep and knocked on the door. 

It felt strange to him to knock, he usually just let himself in.

“Buck!” Christopher exclaimed, throwing himself at Buck’s legs.

“Hey buddy.”

“Buck,” Carla pulled him into a tight hug. “How are you honey?”

“I’m okay. Just got home from a trip.”

“A trip? I thought you had to work.”

“I called off. I needed some time to clear my head. Is Eddie working today?”

“Yeah he is. He checked in on us a few hours ago, said he was responding to a car fire.”

“Damn, I really needed to talk to him.”

“Maybe you can stop by the firehouse and wait? As far as I’m concerned everyone on the damn team owes you an apology.”

“That’s a good idea Carla. I’m gonna head down there, see if I can catch them coming off of a call.”

“Buck can I come with you?” Christopher asked sweetly. “I really missed you.”

“I missed you too kiddo. And sure you can come, I bet your daddy will be happy to see you.”

“Yay!” he cheered.

“You be good alright?” Carla instructed.

“Yes ma’am,” Christopher answered as he followed Buck out of the house.

He helped him into his Jeep and drove off in the direction of the firehouse.

“Buck?”

“Yeah buddy?”

“Where have you been? Daddy said that you couldn’t come see us but he wouldn’t tell us why. I missed you a lot.”

“I missed you too kiddo. And I had to go away for a while to work on some personal stuff. But I’m back now okay? And I’m not gonna leave again.”

“Good. Mama left Daddy, he needs somebody.”

Buck’s heart broke a little bit, “Your daddy is my best friend. I’m always going to be here for him.”

He put his Jeep in his usual parking place and helped Christopher out of the car.

“They’re not back yet. Let’s go wait upstairs.”

*****

The mood in the truck was somber. 

Bobby was thinking of how to break the news to May and Harry.

Chim was trying to figure out how he was going to take care of Maddie.

Hen was trying to figure out how to keep her team from falling apart.

Eddie was trying to figure out a way to break the news to Chris. He’d already lost his mom and he was so attached to Buck, this was going to break his little boy’s heart.

He didn’t want to get out of the truck when they got back to the station. He didn’t want to enter a building that would never be entered by Evan Buckley again. 

He was so much of the glue that kept their team together, Eddie was terrified they would fall apart without him.

He was the glue that held Eddie himself together, he was sure he would break into a million pieces without Buck in his life.

They piled out of the truck and into the station.

“What is that sound?’ Hen asked.

“What sound?” Eddie knew his tone was snappy, but Hen could cut him some slack given the current circumstances.

“Someone is upstairs, laughing. It sounds like a kid.”

“Well they can shut the hell up,” Eddie had defaulted to anger.

“Eddie-”

“Hen, Buck is dead. As far as I’m concerned no one is ever allowed to laugh again.”

Eddie stalked upstairs, determined to put an end to the offendint noise.

He was stopped in his tracks by the sight of one very alive Evan Buckley, holding Christopher up in the air.

“Buck?”

“Eddie hey I-”

His sentence was cut off by the older man crashing into him.

“Eddie what-”

“I thought I lost you,” Eddie whispered, pulling Buck’s head down into his shoulder.

“Daddy are you okay?” Chris ran a little hand over his cheek.

“What are you talking about Eddie?”

“There was a call. A car on fire on the highway. A Jeep Buck, a grey Jeep just like yours. There was an ID in the glove box with the name Evan on it and a picture that looked just like you. We thought you were gone Buck.”

“You thought Bucky was dead?” Christopher’s lip was trembling.

“I’m okay buddy remember? I came to pick you up. Eddie there a hundreds of people named Evan in California and the odds of one of them driving a grey Jeep is pretty high. I’m alright, I promise.”

“Buck, I’m so sorry for pushing you away. I can’t lose you Buck. You are all that’s holding us together. My family, we need you Buck.”

“It’s okay Eddie. I’m here, I’m not going anywhere. I don’t want to lose you here and I’m so sorry for the lawsuit and for pushing you off. It’s not what I wanted.”

“I know and we all owe you an apology for how we acted afterwards. You were just trying to do what’s best for yourself.”

“Buck you scared the hell out of us,” the rest of the team crowded around for a group hug, spouting apologies.

*****

“That was a hell of a day,” Buck commented as he took a sip from his beer.

“Yeah it was,” Eddie answered. “Buck, when I saw that Jeep today I automatically assumed the worst. And when we found that ID and no one knew where you’d been for a few days, Buck I lost it. I don’t want to do this without you Buck, I can’t. Christopher and I need you.”

“You don’t have to. Eddie I need you too. You’re my best friend and the one person who has never left me behind. But I still pushed you away for a stupid lawsuit.”

“You wanted your job back. You wanted your family back.”

“I just didn’t realize that by trying to get back my family at the 118, I was losing the one I had here with you and Christopher.”

“You’re always going to have us Buck. No matter what.”

Buck leaned in a little closer, until Eddie could smell the beer on his breath and the cologne on his neck.

“Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me?”

Eddie didn’t answer with words, instead he kissed Buck soft and slow, holding him close to his body.

“Please don’t scare me like that again,” Eddie whispered as he pulled away, leaning their foreheads together.

“I promise I won’t. I love you Eddie.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
